Cook book buying addiction?!

PipneyJane

Hello. Can I play? :wave:


My name is PipneyJane and I am a cookbook addict. I can't bring myself to count the number of cookbooks I have, although it's probably two book-cases worth. They aren't just recipe books, they're entertainment (if a cookbook enters this house, then I'll read it cover to cover). The collection has built up for several reasons:-

• In the pre-internet days, I'd buy a book for one specific recipe if the book contained one for I wanted to cook. For instance, in the "great banana bread recipe hunt" of 1994, I went through dozens of books in Waterstones without success. Now, I start with Google.
• I wanted to become better acquainted with a specific cuisine, so I bought recipe books for it. I'll use these books as a sort of "food tourism", since a lot of books talk about customs as well as providing recipes.
• Once upon a time, I used cookbooks as a sort of "comfort food". My home life was pretty awful, so I would read the glossier sort of cookbook, stare at the pictures and imagine what life could be like in the world of the author/idealised world he/she conjoured up.
• Foodie Fan Status. I have every one of Nigella's books - love How To Eat.
• Low calorie/low fat/Weight Watchers cookbooks. Every foodie needs recipes that aren't fattening. I can't resist a WW cookbook.
• They fit into my latest obsession, currently all things WW2. I have all the ration book cookbooks, Margurite Patten's books, the facimile reprints, etc.
• People keep buying them for me. Once you're known as a cookbook collector, they become easy presents. I've been given several lovely, glossy cookbooks this way.

One rule I made up for myself early on is that I had to cook something from each recipe book, in order to justify its purchase. I probably have a dozen books that I use regularly, but most others will get used during the course of a year. Also, I've got a fairly good memory for remembering which book contains which recipe (although often it's remembered as "the blue WW book" not by name).

It is time to do a cull. Some of the glossies could go and I wouldn't even notice. I don't think I've even opened the Larouse Gastronomique....

Who am I kidding?

Swan_2

PipneyJane wrote: »

Hello. Can I play? :wave:

<snip> (sorry ) Also, I've got a fairly good memory for remembering which book contains which recipe (although often it's remembered as "the blue WW book" not by name).

It is time to do a cull. Some of the glossies could go and I wouldn't even notice. I don't think I've even opened the Larouse Gastronomique....

Who am I kidding?

I must find the old cookbook thread for you to have a look through

I am so useless at remembering which recipe came from which book I started putting the ones I like on a blog

once in a moment of sheer madness I charity shopped an entire set of Time Life's Foods of the World & have bitterly regretted it ever since

PipneyJane

Swan wrote: »

I do have a cull now & again, I'm particularly unimpressed at the moment with The Fabulous Baker Brothers and Ottolenghi: The Cookbook & I think they'll likely be heading to Amazon for trading in

Can I ask why you don't like those books? I have Ottolenghi's books in my Amazon wishlist, so a review would be helpful.

c_denise

OH and I do love getting cookery books

My last purchase was a Larousse Gastronomique for OH ( christmas present ) I am finding it hard not to get anything at the mo... hoping to move soon and then buy some more :T

lostinrates

I love my ottolenghi book. Its inspirational for my faourite melenge of eating....med, north african, but also modern. Its a magical place, where jewish influenced eating and islamic dishes exist in perfect harmony. Its my favourite sort of food.

notatvstar

... I have only 100.

All hardbacks - all new.... some from Teacake Maximus though (... if that makes it alright... please).

I only buy them for the pictures

<...sobs>

Swan_2

PipneyJane wrote: »

Can I ask why you don't like those books? I have Ottolenghi's books in my Amazon wishlist, so a review would be helpful.

hi
quick answer for the Ottolenghi one ... if I'd had a look at it in a bookshop, I wouldn't have bought it, I was swayed by the good reviews

there was nothing in it that really 'grabbed' me & the one thing I did try, white chocolate & cranberry biscuits, were disappointing (I never usually go for sweet recipes first)

I already have quite a few other Middle Eastern/Jewish/North African/Mediterranean inspired books, so perhaps it wasn't as exciting for me as it might have been ... possibly I need to revisit it before condemning it outright :think:

The Baker Brothers book has a few nice sounding recipes, but not enough of them, & far too many pics of the boys themselves (there's a lot of that about in cookbooks these days) ... again a book I'd never have bought if I'd seen it first


disclaimer ... bear in mind I read the Harold McGee book I mentioned earlier for entertainment (actually I'm currently reading Forensic Facial Reconstruction, fascinating stuff) so my opinions may not necessarily be a reliable indicator of how enjoyable you or anyone else might find those books :cool:

Swan_2

lostinrates wrote: »

I love my ottolenghi book. Its inspirational for my faourite melenge of eating....med, north african, but also modern. Its a magical place, where jewish influenced eating and islamic dishes exist in perfect harmony. Its my favourite sort of food.

I love the food & magical flavours too

my love affair began with Claudia Roden's A Book of Middle Eastern Food circa 1981 (first published 1970) so old, stained & dog-eared I can't even find it on Amazon any more

I remember the first time I made couscous, steaming it & rubbing the grains, a lot of work but so worth it! & making hummous, which no-one had heard of then but they all loved it, & her pita breads are unsurpassed

all very basic stuff now, but at the time innovative

lostinrates

Swan wrote: »

I love the food & magical flavours too

my love affair began with Claudia Roden's A Book of Middle Eastern Food circa 1981 (first published 1970) so old, stained & dog-eared I can't even find it on Amazon any more

I remember the first time I made couscous, steaming it & rubbing the grains, a lot of work but so worth it! & making hummous, which no-one had heard of then but they all loved it, & her pita breads are unsurpassed

all very basic stuff now, but at the time innovative

. Its not so unfamiliar to me,i was lucky enough to be brought up by a woman who had spent some time in the middle east, and in other places. We ate a very varied diet from a range of cultures and cuisines from disparate parts of the world, but i think it must have been magical to 'discover' these wonderful tastes for the first time, it must have been culinarily exciting!

edenbank6

I confess I too share this addiction. For reasons NOT -sadly-including being ridiculously wealthy my collection is split between two homes and I've just realised that the number falling into the "of course I need to ship them, they're the absolute minimum essential " category was 80. I dread to think how many there are in total.

For me Simon Hopkinson is a culinary god, I love his stuff and he revels in being a cook not a chef. Also beloved is my extremely battered Robert Carrier's Great Dishes of the World.

I would also give a bit of a thumbs down to the Ottolenghi - instead pick up something by Elizabeth Luard or Claudia Roden.

The advantage of two sites is the chance to infiltrate from one to the other with "but I've had this for ages darling!":D